[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"site-settings":3,"perspective-what-gdpr-and-casl-teach-us":30,"perspective-related":363,"perspective-series":403},{"siteTitle":4,"siteTagline":5,"siteDescription":6,"organizationName":4,"personName":7,"defaultOgImageUrl":8,"socialHandles":9,"navLinks":10,"footerText":26,"cursorMode":27,"interactionMode":28,"missionPrompt":29},"Mom Player Character","For parents in the digital deep end","Recon, parent guides, and perspective on the digital world your kid already lives in.","Shannon","\u002Fog-default.svg",{},[11,14,17,20,23],{"label":12,"href":13},"Recon","\u002Frecon",{"label":15,"href":16},"Guides","\u002Fguides",{"label":18,"href":19},"Perspective","\u002Fperspective",{"label":21,"href":22},"Live","\u002Flive",{"label":24,"href":25},"About","\u002Fabout","Actively investigating the internet your kid already lives in",true,"tasteful","Pick the parent problem, get the clearest next move.",{"_id":31,"_type":32,"kindLabel":18,"title":33,"slug":34,"path":35,"excerpt":36,"publishedAt":37,"updatedAt":37,"authorName":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":38,"featured":39,"body":40,"seo":360},"8af62ad5-be5b-4e69-aeb4-a358474652d5","perspective","What GDPR & Canadian Anti-Spam Laws Actually Teach Us","what-gdpr-and-casl-teach-us","\u002Fperspective\u002Fwhat-gdpr-and-casl-teach-us","The 'regulation won't work because the internet is global' argument sounds convincing until you look at what GDPR and CASL actually did.",null,"Stylized map highlighting Europe and Canada connected by data lines, representing the global impact of GDPR and Canadian anti-spam laws.",false,[41,51,60,68,76,84,92,100,108,116,124,132,140,148,156,164,172,180,188,196,204,212,220,228,236,244,252,260,268,276,284,292,300,308,316,324,332,340,348,356],{"_key":42,"_type":43,"children":44,"markDefs":49,"style":50},"c5d48e6f9396","block",[45],{"_key":46,"_type":47,"marks":48,"text":33},"2b05c71d97a1","span",[],[],"h2",{"_key":52,"_type":43,"children":53,"markDefs":58,"style":59},"e6cefbaa5ec0",[54],{"_key":55,"_type":47,"marks":56,"text":57},"33a7257fd7e3",[],"One of the things that keeps coming up in this whole conversation around regulating AI and social media is this pushback that it won’t really work because the internet is global.",[],"normal",{"_key":61,"_type":43,"children":62,"markDefs":67,"style":59},"63c1ff4e8a1a",[63],{"_key":64,"_type":47,"marks":65,"text":66},"8909c3839d55",[],"Like, people will say, “Okay, but if Canada makes a rule, what about companies in other countries? They’re not going to listen.”",[],{"_key":69,"_type":43,"children":70,"markDefs":75,"style":59},"b53c3b96cbe5",[71],{"_key":72,"_type":47,"marks":73,"text":74},"8da3fc58fa55",[],"And I get why that sounds convincing at first, but I don’t actually think it holds up when you look at what’s already happened in other areas.",[],{"_key":77,"_type":43,"children":78,"markDefs":83,"style":59},"936d0628c93a",[79],{"_key":80,"_type":47,"marks":81,"text":82},"379c08aa760c",[],"We’ve already seen this exact situation play out with data privacy and email. Not perfectly, but enough that there’s a pretty clear pattern.",[],{"_key":85,"_type":43,"children":86,"markDefs":91,"style":59},"447839dc7a46",[87],{"_key":88,"_type":47,"marks":89,"text":90},"8488a2606944",[],"Take General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. It’s a European law. It wasn’t designed to control the entire internet. It was designed to give people in the EU more control over their personal data. Things like being able to request it, delete it, understand how it’s being used.",[],{"_key":93,"_type":43,"children":94,"markDefs":99,"style":59},"2d9c78d60028",[95],{"_key":96,"_type":47,"marks":97,"text":98},"b0e51ae8ddbe",[],"So on paper, this should only affect companies operating in Europe.",[],{"_key":101,"_type":43,"children":102,"markDefs":107,"style":59},"9c98b1ec3305",[103],{"_key":104,"_type":47,"marks":105,"text":106},"016034e96ac2",[],"But that’s not what happened.",[],{"_key":109,"_type":43,"children":110,"markDefs":115,"style":59},"324cfa36072a",[111],{"_key":112,"_type":47,"marks":113,"text":114},"3eeda9565319",[],"What actually happened is that companies all over the world, especially North American ones, started changing how they handle data across the board. Not just for Europeans.",[],{"_key":117,"_type":43,"children":118,"markDefs":123,"style":59},"2a1d37cc248d",[119],{"_key":120,"_type":47,"marks":121,"text":122},"7c5c99abe9a4",[],"And it wasn’t because they suddenly had a change of heart about privacy. It was because if they wanted to do business in Europe, they had to be compliant. There wasn’t really a middle ground where they could just ignore it and still operate normally.",[],{"_key":125,"_type":43,"children":126,"markDefs":131,"style":59},"a6ac7503af14",[127],{"_key":128,"_type":47,"marks":129,"text":130},"6a64f383895f",[],"So instead of building two completely different systems, one compliant and one not, a lot of companies just raised their baseline globally. It was simpler, and it reduced risk.",[],{"_key":133,"_type":43,"children":134,"markDefs":139,"style":59},"210612c35110",[135],{"_key":136,"_type":47,"marks":137,"text":138},"155c169b03a8",[],"You can see it in really small ways too. Those cookie consent banners that pop up everywhere, the ability to request your data, the way platforms now talk about data usage. That didn’t just randomly become a priority. That was pressure.",[],{"_key":141,"_type":43,"children":142,"markDefs":147,"style":59},"1e26576711fc",[143],{"_key":144,"_type":47,"marks":145,"text":146},"874ad29f4a4c",[],"And then there’s Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, which is a bit less flashy but honestly just as telling.",[],{"_key":149,"_type":43,"children":150,"markDefs":155,"style":59},"b5d7e7ec8ecd",[151],{"_key":152,"_type":47,"marks":153,"text":154},"f776ece09eb2",[],"Before CASL, email was kind of a mess. Companies would send emails to huge lists, sometimes scraped or purchased, with very little oversight. Unsubscribe links were inconsistent, sometimes hidden, sometimes just didn’t work.",[],{"_key":157,"_type":43,"children":158,"markDefs":163,"style":59},"b4bc782c6897",[159],{"_key":160,"_type":47,"marks":161,"text":162},"2f4b91763799",[],"There wasn’t a strong reason not to do it, because it still drove results.",[],{"_key":165,"_type":43,"children":166,"markDefs":171,"style":59},"131bb1287dc8",[167],{"_key":168,"_type":47,"marks":169,"text":170},"8d3cb8226691",[],"CASL didn’t reinvent email marketing. It just set some very clear expectations. You need consent. You need to identify yourself. You need to give people a real way to opt out.",[],{"_key":173,"_type":43,"children":174,"markDefs":179,"style":59},"f6390808e0da",[175],{"_key":176,"_type":47,"marks":177,"text":178},"5b2966cbedf0",[],"And importantly, there are consequences if you don’t.",[],{"_key":181,"_type":43,"children":182,"markDefs":187,"style":59},"e1a8b9f84459",[183],{"_key":184,"_type":47,"marks":185,"text":186},"087f64a0974e",[],"There’s even a reporting mechanism where people can forward spam to the government. That part always sticks with me, because it turns something that feels passive into something enforceable.",[],{"_key":189,"_type":43,"children":190,"markDefs":195,"style":59},"09104d3682a3",[191],{"_key":192,"_type":47,"marks":193,"text":194},"dac5e2ed513f",[],"And again, companies adjusted.",[],{"_key":197,"_type":43,"children":198,"markDefs":203,"style":59},"704cce3199aa",[199],{"_key":200,"_type":47,"marks":201,"text":202},"9878e9b49df4",[],"Not overnight, and not perfectly, but you can’t really run a legitimate email program now without thinking about compliance. It’s just part of how it works.",[],{"_key":205,"_type":43,"children":206,"markDefs":211,"style":59},"803504171a61",[207],{"_key":208,"_type":47,"marks":209,"text":210},"d6f428357cf3",[],"So when people say regulation won’t work because companies are global, I think they’re missing how companies actually behave.",[],{"_key":213,"_type":43,"children":214,"markDefs":219,"style":59},"4f3dab628885",[215],{"_key":216,"_type":47,"marks":217,"text":218},"4ebd3a12b01f",[],"It’s not that they follow every law everywhere out of principle. It’s that they follow the laws that affect whether they can access the markets they care about.",[],{"_key":221,"_type":43,"children":222,"markDefs":227,"style":59},"a285290db797",[223],{"_key":224,"_type":47,"marks":225,"text":226},"0431109fb5c6",[],"And the platforms we’re talking about here, the ones kids are using every day, they absolutely care about markets like Canada, the US, Europe. These aren’t edge cases for them.",[],{"_key":229,"_type":43,"children":230,"markDefs":235,"style":59},"7698580ce9b4",[231],{"_key":232,"_type":47,"marks":233,"text":234},"cd9d15cd0a8a",[],"They’re not going to just opt out of those regions because compliance is inconvenient. They’ll adapt.",[],{"_key":237,"_type":43,"children":238,"markDefs":243,"style":59},"30bc76de4a97",[239],{"_key":240,"_type":47,"marks":241,"text":242},"130041bbb8ba",[],"They already do adapt, depending on geography. Different rules, different features, different compliance layers. That’s normal for them.",[],{"_key":245,"_type":43,"children":246,"markDefs":251,"style":59},"24edd10cdc87",[247],{"_key":248,"_type":47,"marks":249,"text":250},"2fe608dc739f",[],"So the question isn’t really “will they listen.”",[],{"_key":253,"_type":43,"children":254,"markDefs":259,"style":59},"8baef6b271e9",[255],{"_key":256,"_type":47,"marks":257,"text":258},"d21dba963894",[],"It’s “what happens if they don’t.”",[],{"_key":261,"_type":43,"children":262,"markDefs":267,"style":59},"9b23311b92ca",[263],{"_key":264,"_type":47,"marks":265,"text":266},"eb50657a36f0",[],"Because that’s what made GDPR work. That’s what made CASL work. Not the existence of the rule, but the fact that ignoring it had real consequences.",[],{"_key":269,"_type":43,"children":270,"markDefs":275,"style":59},"0bf78db96497",[271],{"_key":272,"_type":47,"marks":273,"text":274},"2d5457aa62b3",[],"And I think that’s the piece that needs to carry over into AI and social media, especially when we’re talking about kids.",[],{"_key":277,"_type":43,"children":278,"markDefs":283,"style":59},"7216d373c993",[279],{"_key":280,"_type":47,"marks":281,"text":282},"7aca3984cc3a",[],"If a platform says users under a certain age aren’t allowed, but there’s no real consequence when that’s clearly not enforced, then it’s not really a rule. It’s more like a suggestion that everyone knows can be ignored.",[],{"_key":285,"_type":43,"children":286,"markDefs":291,"style":59},"2260e91d6235",[287],{"_key":288,"_type":47,"marks":289,"text":290},"48a8eb2b8dd6",[],"And then we end up putting the responsibility back on parents and kids to somehow manage systems that are designed to pull them in.",[],{"_key":293,"_type":43,"children":294,"markDefs":299,"style":59},"965762918cfb",[295],{"_key":296,"_type":47,"marks":297,"text":298},"1a6743783ce2",[],"Which doesn’t feel realistic.",[],{"_key":301,"_type":43,"children":302,"markDefs":307,"style":59},"6e12ae47aa27",[303],{"_key":304,"_type":47,"marks":305,"text":306},"97e866928cea",[],"I don’t think regulation fixes everything. GDPR has issues. CASL has issues. They add friction, they can be frustrating, and they’re not always applied perfectly.",[],{"_key":309,"_type":43,"children":310,"markDefs":315,"style":59},"1a324fe2a652",[311],{"_key":312,"_type":47,"marks":313,"text":314},"617d51496df8",[],"But they did shift the baseline.",[],{"_key":317,"_type":43,"children":318,"markDefs":323,"style":59},"42673cce961d",[319],{"_key":320,"_type":47,"marks":321,"text":322},"b95a4a6da156",[],"They took things that were previously optional and made them standard. And once something becomes standard, everything else builds from there.",[],{"_key":325,"_type":43,"children":326,"markDefs":331,"style":59},"d39e16761016",[327],{"_key":328,"_type":47,"marks":329,"text":330},"3c827c9a2020",[],"That’s the part I keep coming back to.",[],{"_key":333,"_type":43,"children":334,"markDefs":339,"style":59},"deac294c2a52",[335],{"_key":336,"_type":47,"marks":337,"text":338},"cc0da69e4f3b",[],"We already know companies will change their behavior when access to a market or revenue is on the line. We’ve seen it happen.",[],{"_key":341,"_type":43,"children":342,"markDefs":347,"style":59},"ba6b94954eff",[343],{"_key":344,"_type":47,"marks":345,"text":346},"ab4185d7d7f2",[],"So instead of debating whether regulation can work in theory, it feels like we should be asking a more practical question.",[],{"_key":349,"_type":43,"children":350,"markDefs":355,"style":59},"0e2ee1d9aa40",[351],{"_key":352,"_type":47,"marks":353,"text":354},"98d61a0908df",[],"What are the conditions that would actually make these companies take it seriously this time?",[],{"_key":357,"_type":358,"alt":359,"children":37,"imageUrl":37,"markDefs":37},"a898916fba8a","image","Abstract illustration of a globe overlaid with legal documents and consent checkboxes, symbolizing how regional regulations like GDPR and CASL influence global internet practices.",{"canonicalUrl":37,"metaDescription":361,"metaTitle":33,"metaTitlePrefix":37,"noIndex":39,"ogDescription":362,"ogImageUrl":37,"ogTitle":33},"GDPR and Canada’s Anti-Spam Law show that smart regulation can shift global tech behavior when access to key markets is on the line. Here’s what that means for AI and social media.","GDPR and CASL didn’t fix the internet, but they did reset the baseline for privacy and email. That’s the real lesson for regulating AI and social media, especially for kids.",[364,365,372,379,387,395],{"_id":31,"_type":32,"kindLabel":18,"title":33,"slug":34,"path":35,"excerpt":36,"publishedAt":37,"updatedAt":37,"authorName":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":38,"featured":39},{"_id":366,"_type":32,"kindLabel":18,"title":367,"slug":368,"path":369,"excerpt":370,"publishedAt":37,"updatedAt":37,"authorName":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":371,"featured":39},"b00e8692-3b67-42f7-8dfd-bb373a38323e","Why Self-Regulation Fails (And Always Has)","why-self-regulation-fails","\u002Fperspective\u002Fwhy-self-regulation-fails","Companies don't change because they want to — they change when the cost of not changing outweighs the cost of changing. The case against hoping tech fixes itself.","Conceptual image representing technology self-regulation, with corporate skyscrapers overshadowing small regulatory road signs.",{"_id":373,"_type":32,"kindLabel":18,"title":374,"slug":375,"path":376,"excerpt":377,"publishedAt":37,"updatedAt":37,"authorName":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":378,"featured":39},"bef82def-d299-4bef-a518-13376c75f74f","The Only Thing That Works: Hitting the Bottom Line","the-only-thing-that-works-hitting-the-bottom-line","\u002Fperspective\u002Fthe-only-thing-that-works-hitting-the-bottom-line","If you want companies like Meta or OpenAI to change their behavior around kids, the conversation has to reach revenue. Everything else is negotiable.","Conceptual image of a tech company headquarters overlaid with a red downward revenue arrow.",{"_id":380,"_type":32,"kindLabel":18,"title":381,"slug":382,"path":383,"excerpt":384,"publishedAt":385,"updatedAt":37,"authorName":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":386,"featured":39},"68118e39-b171-4b3f-b1ad-e744c5a3b18f","AI and Privacy vs Safety — Where Should the Line Be?","privacy-vs-safety-where-should-the-line-be","\u002Fperspective\u002Fprivacy-vs-safety-where-should-the-line-be","Privacy isn't absolute in any other context. The question isn't whether to protect it — it's where the threshold should be when behavior starts signaling real risk.","2026-05-07T22:07:00.000Z","Scales balancing a padlock on one side and a safety shield on the other, representing the tradeoff between privacy and safety in digital platforms.",{"_id":388,"_type":32,"kindLabel":18,"title":389,"slug":390,"path":391,"excerpt":392,"publishedAt":393,"updatedAt":37,"authorName":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":394,"featured":39},"193e8fe4-8adb-4ed1-b20f-74cb5c7ec6e6","Should Free Access Exist for Kids?","should-free-access-exist-for-kids","\u002Fperspective\u002Fshould-free-access-exist-for-kids","Free access removes every barrier — including the ones that are supposed to keep younger users out. That's not accidental. It's part of how these platforms grow.","2026-05-07T17:59:00.000Z","Conceptual image of layered digital gates in front of a social platform interface, representing conditional free access for kids.",{"_id":396,"_type":32,"kindLabel":18,"title":397,"slug":398,"path":399,"excerpt":400,"publishedAt":393,"updatedAt":37,"authorName":401,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":402,"featured":39},"5fcbd76d-d6bc-4def-bae2-713dc9fc528d","The Mental Impact No One Is Regulating Yet","the-mental-impact-no-one-is-regulating-yet","\u002Fperspective\u002Fthe-mental-impact-no-one-is-regulating-yet","The most measurable harms get regulated first. But the slow accumulation of distorted thinking, constant comparison, and shallow engagement is harder to name — and probably matters more.","Shannon @ MPC","Abstract illustration of overlapping social media windows and AI chat bubbles surrounding a human head silhouette, representing mental overload and distorted thinking.",[404],{"_id":405,"_type":406,"kindLabel":407,"title":408,"slug":409,"path":410,"excerpt":411,"status":412,"featured":27,"publishedAt":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":413,"pieceCount":414,"pieces":415},"43ee44c6-4b34-4403-94ad-c3b5fdeb8432","series","Series","Regulating AI & Social Media for Real-World Safety","regulating-ai-social-media-real-world-safety","\u002Fperspective\u002Fseries\u002Fregulating-ai-social-media-real-world-safety","A practical look at what it would actually take to regulate AI and social platforms for kids’ real-world safety—drawing on lessons from other industries and naming the tradeoffs.","active","Conceptual image of AI and social media symbols surrounded by caution markers, suggesting regulation and child safety.",7,[416,419,422,425,434,437,440],{"key":417,"type":32,"kindLabel":18,"label":418,"title":367,"path":369,"excerpt":370,"publishedAt":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":371},"369592fb78a2","Part 1",{"key":420,"type":32,"kindLabel":18,"label":421,"title":33,"path":35,"excerpt":36,"publishedAt":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":38},"06a047ff76d5","Part 2",{"key":423,"type":32,"kindLabel":18,"label":424,"title":374,"path":376,"excerpt":377,"publishedAt":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":378},"e3389b135226","Part 3",{"key":426,"type":427,"kindLabel":428,"label":429,"title":430,"path":431,"excerpt":432,"publishedAt":37,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":433},"538b6afba961","parentGuide","Parent Guide","Part 4","Age-Gating That Actually Works (Not Just a Checkbox)","\u002Fguides\u002Fage-gating-that-actually-works","Typing in a fake birthday isn't age verification — it's just a question. Here’s what real, working age-gating would need to look like, and what parents can do right now.","Illustration of a sign-up screen with an age checkbox, overlaid with icons for ID cards, credit cards, and device settings.",{"key":435,"type":32,"kindLabel":18,"label":436,"title":389,"path":391,"excerpt":392,"publishedAt":393,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":394},"483d15c14a8b","Part 5",{"key":438,"type":32,"kindLabel":18,"label":439,"title":381,"path":383,"excerpt":384,"publishedAt":385,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":386},"267591a6959f","Part 6",{"key":441,"type":32,"kindLabel":18,"label":442,"title":397,"path":399,"excerpt":400,"publishedAt":393,"featuredImageUrl":37,"featuredImageAlt":402},"6589bdb8eb91","Part 7"]